“He wants me to be happy. You make me happy. He’ll come around and the sooner the better.”
“I have to agree, but before we do, we have a stop to make.”
“Your father’s?”
“No. We’re not speaking.”
“He wasn’t to blame either. Not that buying someone under any circumstances is okay in my book, but he had no idea what Mistress Adams was up to, that I was being blackmailed. If we’re to begin again, Joshua, you have to forgive your father.”
“How did I get so lucky? You’re an incredible woman, Rose.”
“We both got lucky. Something horrible happened, but something wonderful came from it and we have to accept it and move on knowing that from here on in, love is our motivation. The past has to be put to rest.”
“If I do forgive my father, then I guess we’ll have to invite him to the wedding. Hopefully my mother will be able to tear herself away from her love of the South of France to come home and meet you before you walk down the aisle.”
“You want to marry me?”
“Of course. I’m never letting you get away from me again, ever. Don’t you want to marry me?” he asked, his voice becoming unsure.
“Yes, I want to marry you.” She kissed him with every ounce of love she possessed.
With a moan, he pulled away from her. “I need a shower badly and yet all I want is to bury myself in you again.”
“I like you dirty,” she said and then giggled.
“Dirty is exactly what I want to do to you in every way possible.”
A half hour later they both finally made it into the shower. As Joshua was soaping her body, she remembered a piece of their conversation prior to his loving her again that had been slower and oh so tender.
“If you weren’t talking about stopping at your father’s, what were you talking about?”
“I’m stopping at the jeweler’s. I want to ask your uncle for your hand in marriage. I need him to know that my intentions toward you are honorable.”
“What if he says no,” Rose asked, a worried frown on her brow.
“He might. But I’ll just keep on asking and in time, he’ll say yes. I can, as you know, be very persuasive.”
“You’re a bit of an old-fashioned man, aren’t you?” she asked, a grin spreading itself across her face.
“Yes. I’m many things, Rose, but I promise you, although I have dominant tendencies, I’ll never hurt you. I’ll cherish you the way you deserve to be cherished.”
“We have our whole lives to cherish each other,” she said as their naked bodies collided in the shower. “And it’s those dominant tendencies that I look forward to submitting to in a variety of ways that I’m sure will have me screaming for more.”
“If more is what you want,” he said seductively, his body capturing hers against the wall tiles, “then you’re in for the ride of a lifetime.”
She knew they still had a number of obstacles to clear before their life together could truly begin the way Joshua wanted, but their love had brought them this far, and she had no doubt that whatever their future held, they would never allow anything or anyone to keep them apart again. With a sigh of utter contentment, she gave the man who loved her what would belong to no one but him. Her heart.
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Kalissa Alexander loves to write stories about love. She is a woman of diversified interests, from singing karaoke, to knitting, to creating her own crafts at the holidays. However, nothing brings her more pleasure than to write about desirable, loving women that regardless of life’s obstacles always find true love with the men that can make their dreams come true. She believes that happy endings are what women not only want but need to believe in. On any given day or into the night, she can be found bringing her characters to life with an anxious smile as she finds the words to express their feelings in a story that makes them perfect for each other in an imperfect world. Life is full of possibilities; she enjoys bringing all of them to her readers.
For all titles by Kalissa Alexander, please visit
www.bookstrand.com/kalissa-alexander
Siren Publishing, Inc.
www.SirenPublishing.com
Deception, Dominance, Desire (Siren Publishing LoveEdge) Page 15